


Blood Fever

by genericfanatic



Series: Voltron Trek [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Star Trek inspired, doesn't really get into anything much, mature rating is just to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 18:21:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8856013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genericfanatic/pseuds/genericfanatic
Summary: A telepathic alien attempts to seduce Keith, and the bond he creates accidentally sends Keith into a mating ritual





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not dead!  
> and finally finished this goddamn it took forever. plus brain stuff. plus life stuff. just a lot of stuff. but its here!
> 
> Edit: I posted this at 3 am originally and now will actually give my authors notes if you haven't read this already. Anyway, fic is based off Star Trek Voyager Episode of the same name.

“What about, ‘Is your dad an alien, because you are out of this world?’” Lance asked.

Keith rolled his eyes, “You would potentially be saying this TO an alien, right? So, questioning if her dad is an alien is kinda a given.”

Lance huffed. “I’m not looking for critique here, just general impressions on my material. So like, if I said it to YOU, would you go for it?”

Keith looked away from his work for just a second to raise an eyebrow at Lance, who was leaning on the speeder engine, looking expectantly at Keith. “No.” Keith finally said.

Lance slumped back. “C’mon, Keith, work with me here. There’s this really cute alien I wanna flirt with, but I wanna make sure I do it right.” 

Keith rolled his eyes, “Well, I assume its one of the Betajoran’s we’re transporting?”

Lance turned his face away, “I can neither confirm nor deny that,”

“Right.” Keith said, focusing on screwing a bolt in place, “So, considering they’re telepathic, I think no matter what you say, they’ll be able to see through your intentions, and, no doubt once they face the horrors of your inner thoughts will most likely flee in terror,”

Lance huffed again, “What do you know?”

“Well,” Keith said, “I certainly know more about adjusting Betajoran speeders than you do, considering I’ve done all the work that we were supposed to be doing TOGETHER,” He sat back and closed the panel of the speeder, “Why get assigned to work here if you’re not going to actually DO the work.”

Lance blushed, “I helped!” He protested. He grabbed Keith’s wrench and put it back in the toolbox, “I handed you all your tools.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Well, I’M going to go tell Vorix that the exploratory speeder’s all done.” 

Lance groaned and slouched on the speeder, “Bleh, Vorix.” 

Keith closed up the toolbox and picked it up. “What’s wrong with Vorix?”

“He’s just…” Lance sighed, at a loss for words, “He’s just, like…he gives me the heebie jeebies.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “You just don’t like telepaths.”

“Telepaths are FINE,” Lance said, “Just…I feel like Vorix is always staring at me with his 3rd eye…”

“You’re imagining things.” He left Lance behind and went down the hallway to where the Betajoran’s were staying. They had saved the planet Betajor some time ago, and since then, they had been one of Voltron’s staunchest allies. So, when Voltron found an old Balmera so overused by the Galra, they called upon the Betajorans to see if they would be willing to help them nurse it back to health and then mine the crystals properly to be used by their allies. 

They needed to first explore some of the caves to see the extent of the damage, and see if it was even possible for Allura to resurrect it. To do that they needed to modify some of Betajor’s speeders. Coran, Pidge, and Hunk were working with Betajoran engineers, but they still needed all hands on deck. So the other paladins had been pulled into the repairs as well. 

Keith had been getting along fairly decently with one of said engineers, Vorix. “Hey Vorix!” He called. 

Vorix perked up, and bowed his head politely at Keith, “Good evening, Keith.” He gave him a wide smile, which Keith had figured out was practically a belly laugh for Vorix. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Keith put his hands behind his back. “I finished adjusting my speeder. I’m ready to work on another one, if you need any help.”

Vorix blinked, surprised, “You are a fast and efficient worker, Keith.” He said, “Better than half the other engineers here. You sure you’re a pilot?”

Keith chuckled, “I’m a much better pilot than I am an engineer.”

Vorix nodded, repressing his own chuckle. “Then you must be the best pilot in the universe.”

Keith smirked, embarrassed. He was never really sure how to take compliments. “I—I wouldn’t say that.” 

“Why not?” Vorix said, “You are truly remarkable, Keith.”

Now Keith’s face was getting flushed. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? “Thank you.” He decided on, “So…is there any more speeders, or—“

“I think they all have teams working on them at the moment,” Vorix said. “If you have the time, though, there is something I’d like to discuss with you.”

God, that was almost worse than ‘can I ask you a question?’ Already Keith went through 5 kinds of anxiety thinking about what he possibly could need to ask. “Shoot,” Vorix looked at him puzzled, “I mean…yeah, I have the time, what is it?”

Vorix took a deep breath, “I believe you and I have formed a connection on our journey here. Would you agree?”

Keith raised an eyebrow, unsure where he was going with this. “Yeah, I agree.”

“Well then. I was wondering…if you would consent to a Peren ritual with me,” Vorix said. Keith’s face screwed up in further confusion. “I’m assuming you do not have this ritual on Earth,” Keith shook his head, “Well…to be blunt…it’s a type of…of mating ceremony.”

Keith’s eyes went as round as dinner plates. “I’m—what?”

Vorix sighed, “I apologize, that is…an imprecise definition. A Peren ritual involves creating intimacy of both mind and body. It’s…about two people becoming one for a short time. Often it is meant for the production of children, but it also has…recreational uses.” He bit his lip, unsure. “Normally, this sort of tradition involves a great deal of preamble, but as you will no doubt be leaving with Voltron and I will stay with the Balmera, I felt it appropriate to expedite the process.”

If Keith wasn’t blushing before he certainly was now. “I—are you asking me for a hook-up?”

Vorix flinched at the words, “A crude, but not inaccurate term.” Keith stammered, but Vorix talked over him, “I understand if you are frightened by the idea of an alien ritual, but I think you might find it quite pleasurable.” Keith squeaked at that. All three of Vorix’ eyes were quickly dilating, and he was looking at Keith like a starving man might look at a full-course meal. “Allow me to show you.”

Before Keith could protest, Vorix grabbed his chin and pulled him in for a kiss, leaning his forehead up against Keith’s. Keith felt the closed third eye touch his skin and he felt a shudder run through him before he panicked. 

Keith swung up, punching Vorix in the nose to push him away. Vorix jerked back, clutching his nose in both hands, groaning in pain. Keith backed up a step, surprised both at Vorix and himself.

Without thinking of anything else, he ran out of there.

 

By the time they were getting ready to go down to the surface, Keith was in a much better mood. He felt revitalized, with more energy than he knew what to do with. He wasn’t even bothered by the fact Lance had gotten himself assigned to his excavation team yet again. 

“Ah,” Keith said, seeing Lance once again leaning against the vehicle, “You’re prompt for once. Excited to explore a Balmera?”

Lance smirked at him, “Oh, of course. It’s my favorite thing to do.”

“Got everything ready to go?” he asked Lance.

“Sure do,” Lance said, smiling at him, “Got climbing gear, all their weird scanning equipment and—“

“Great,” Keith said, interrupting him, Well, then, if we’re all ready, lets go.” He jumped into the Betajoran exploratory vehicle. Lance blinked, surprised at his eagerness. “Well? Come on! Get in!” 

Not coming up with an argument, Lance did as was asked. “Isn’t Vorix assigned to come—“

“He’s not coming.” Keith cut him off.

Lance raised an eyebrow as Keith started the engines, “Really? Yesterday you were like, number one of the Vorix fan club.”

“I said,” Keith hissed at him, “He’s not coming.” 

Allura’s voice came over the intercom, “Alright, vessels. Coran is currently downloading maps into each of your pods for optimal coverage of the planet. Make sure to have your scanners on at all times as some of the old mines are a bit unstable. When you’re ready, head out.”

The maps had barely finished loading into their vehicle when Keith revved the engines and took off toward the planet’s surface. “Whoa! Ease the brakes speedy.”

Keith rolled his eyes and smirked at Lance, “What? Can you not handle me, McClain?” 

Keith did not miss Lance’s face gradually reddening. “What has gotten into you today?” 

Keith blinks at him. “Nothing! Why would you think that.”

Lance frowned, “You’re just like…hyperactive or something…like…in a good mood.”

“Am I not allowed to be in a good mood?” Keith asked 

“Of course you are!” Lance put up his hands in surrender as Keith navigated them through the atmosphere, practically punching a hole in it, “It’s just…I dunno. You’re all energetic and…”Lance trails off, considering something, “Keith, did you get laid?”

“What?!” Keith yelled, the vessel jerking with him. “Why the hell would you think that?”

“I dunno,” Lance said, slightly abashed, “Last time I saw you, you were headed off to see Vorix and…I dunno, he seemed really into you…and you…you seemed…”

“Ugh,” Keith rolled his eyes, stabilizing as the vessel dove into one of the long mining tunnels. It looked a lot like Shay’s Balmera. “Vorix is the WORST.”

Lance raised an eyebrow, “Did…Did Vorix do something?” He asked in a low voice. His voice successfully seemed to calm Keith down slightly.

Keith sighed. “He…” Keith bit his lip, turned decidedly away from Lance, “He kissed me.”

“He did WHAT?” Lance’s voice went up to practically a shout.

“Lance, drop it.”

“But—“ Lance groaned slightly. Keith risked a peek and looked over, seeing Lance with crossed arms and a scowl. It made him actually smile a little. Lance finally said quietly, “Did you…kiss him back?”

“No!” Keith said, “Of course not!” He started shaking in anger just thinking of it. He peeked over to Lance again, whose scowl had melted into a small smile. “What, you think its funny?”

“No!” Lance said, putting his hands up in surrender. “I just…uh…I was thinking of something else.”

“Well, if you’re so bored just sitting there, why don’t you take the controls?” Keith said, “I’ll work on the scanning equipment.”

Lance blinked at him in surprise. “I…are you sure?” Lance said.

Keith shrugged and sat back, offering the controls to Lance, “Unless your afraid to show me your so called ‘piloting skills.’” He smirked at Lance, raising a single eyebrow. 

Lance blushed “I’ll show you!” Lance slid into the piloting chair as Keith was sliding out of it, their hips aligning and Keith lingering for just a touch longer than he needed to before getting up and looking over the scanning equipment. 

He didn’t pay too much attention to it, instead looking over to Lance. The back of his neck was red, and Keith could only imagine what his face looked like. This was fun!

Or, it WAS fun until the whole ship started shaking violently. “What the hell?” Keith yelled. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Lance said, adjusting the controls. It stopped for a moment, and then the whole ship was jerked to the side. Alarms started blaring. Lance flicked switch after switch, trying to get thrusters to work. The window became a blur as the cave walls sped past them and they fell deep, deep into the mines.

Keith’s brain went a mile a minute. He grabbed ahold of Lance and yanked him out of the control chair, just in time as the controls started sparking and malfunctioning. Then he ripped the emergency exit door off the panel, (silently thanking his Galra heritage), grabbed the emergency parachute and jumped.

Lance hung off of Keith as the parachute unfurled gently lowering them to the ground. They watched as the vessel they had been riding in spiraled down, crashing in a burst of flames. 

Lance and Keith covered their faces from the heat, Keith trying to direct them to an outcropping at the mouth of one of he side caves decently away from the wreckage. As their feet hit the surface, the parachute fell over them.

Lance climbs out of it first, and looks down. “Geez,” He says quietly to himself, “Thanks, Keith.”

From behind him came a snarl underneath the parachute. “What the hell—“ Keith said, his voice slightly growly, “was that?” The parachute was thrown down to the depths, revealing Keith in all his Galra glory, snarling menacingly at Lance.

Lance blinked, “Keith, I swear, this wasn’t my fault!” Lance said, hands up in surrender. 

“You almost got us both killed!” Keith shouted at him, “What kind of shitty pilot are you?”

Keith grabbed Lance by the front of his armor, pulling him away from the ledge and up against the cave wall. “Keith! Calm down!” Lance said, “I had a clear path, I’m 100% sure of it. Something weird is going on here.”

“I’m not looking for any of your excuses!” Keith said, pushing Lance further into the wall, up so his feet were lifted off the floor. Lance tried to struggle but Keith pushed his own body up against him, holding him in place. “You have no BUSINESS flying anything when YOU HAD NO IDEA WHAT YOU WERE DOING!”

“Keith!” Lance shouted at him, his eyes wide, “What has gotten into you?”

His question annoyed Keith. Keith wanted to press into him further kiss that shocked expression right off his—

He dropped Lance on the ground and backed away, realizing his thought. Where had THAT come from? Lance groaned, falling on his ass, trying to regain some level of composure. Looking up just in time for Keith to throw his helmet off and wipe a bit of blood on the side of his face. “You’re hurt,” Lance said, getting up and reaching out to touch the wound.

Keith intercepted his hand, holding onto it, watching Lance flinch slightly in pain. He enjoyed that on some level. “Don’t touch me,” He said, “Lets just finish the mission and be done with it.”

“The mission?” Lance asked astonished, “Keith, we crash landed, we have to call this in, and wait til they can send in an extraction team.”

“You wait for them then!” Keith said, “I’ll use the scanning equipment in my suit.” 

He started to walk off when Lance grabbed his hand, “I can’t let you go wandering down here alone. And injured for goodness—“

“Get your hands off me!” Keith pushed him back against the wall again, pinning Lance’s arms above his head. Almost unconsciously, he tucked his head into the crook of Lance’s neck, inhaling Lance’s scent as deeply as he could. 

Once again realizing what he had done, he pushed himself away from a thoroughly confused and blushing Lance, running down the cave, and ignoring Lance’s call of “Keith!” 

 

“Lance! Keith! Report in!” Allura called, over the communicator, “We’re getting reports of our ships crashing all around the planet.”

“I KNEW it wasn’t just me,” Lance said, still staring down the cave Keith had run down. He had half a mind to chase after him, but there was no way he’d be able to keep up, and he didn’t want two paladins lost in the caves. Besides, he was really…confused as to what just happened. “Is everyone alright?”

“Scattered injuries all around, but no fatalities.” She said, sounding exhausted, “I’ve dropped the black lion down to where Shiro landed, and he’s going to go around collecting people. Are you and Keith okay?” 

“Well…” He said, “We’re not injured. Not heavily at least…but Keith ran off into the caves.”

“What?!” She shouted at him, “Call him back!”

“I would,” Lance said, “But he left his helmet and communicator with me,” Lance leaned down and picked the helmet up, “He was acting really strange…”

“Strange? How?”

“Well…he was just…way more aggressive than usual. Like, even for Keith this was way overkill. And…he smelled me?” He could practically hear Allura’s confusion but he didn’t think he could bear giving more description than that. “He wasn’t acting like himself. I think something’s affecting him.”

“Something on the planet, maybe?” Allura asked, “Did you two run into anything strange?”

“Other than my ship suddenly crashing?” Lance asked, “No. Well…actually, come to think of it, he was acting kinda odd on the ship too.” Lance swallowed, thinking back, “He mentioned an incident with Vorix, the Betajoran engineer. That’s all I know.”

“Incident?” Coran’s voice came over the comm this time, “What kind of incident?”

“Apparently Vorix…kissed Keith.” The words were like acid on his tongue, “I don’t know. Maybe its unrelated but…I’m worried.”

There was silence on the other end. Lance waited a moment but eventually Coran said, “Unfortunately we can’t spare people to help you out at the moment. Once we get everyone else planetside I can send Shiro in to help you, and I’ll speak with Vorix to try and find the cause. In the meantime, I’ve pulled up Keith’s suit signal, and I’m transmitting his location to you.”

Allura piped up, “Try to find him, but stay safe. If there seems to be a problem try and get to one of the main tunnels and stay there until we can get to you. Good luck.”

“Thanks, Princess,” Lance said, shooting off after Keith as his location blinked as a lone red dot on his visor. 

 

Coran’s first stop was not to the engineers quarters but rather to have a conversation with Prince Dorias, leader of the Betajorans, who had come to supervise the beginning of the Balmeran colony. “Coran!” Dorias said, smiling, “Is there an explanation yet why all the vessels went down?”

“Not yet, we’re looking into it,” Coran said, “I actually came to talk to you a bit about Betajoran culture.” 

Dorias raised an eyebrow, “Is this really the time?” 

“Unfortunately, it may be critical,” Coran said. Dorias was confused, but allowed Coran to continue, “As far as I understand it, with exceptions, Betajorans have a fairly conservative view when it comes to mating rituals.”

Dorias was more confused than ever, “Yes, in general, it is traditional to have a close bond with someone first, as our practices link both mind and body. Though, many modern Betajorans…skip ahead a bit.” Dorias blushes, “Like my mother…”

Coran flashes back to meeting the Queen Mother, who had become rather taken with Coran and caused some…incidents. “I see…and, forgive me for asking such sensitive questions, but…the ritual begins by creating a telepathic bond between the two yes? How is that formed?”

Dorias raised an eyebrow, “Why…with some form of physical connection.”

“A connection like a kiss?” Coran said.

“I suppose. Coran, may I ask what the relevance here is?”

Coran sighed, “Come, I’ll fill you in as we walk.”

 

“Keith?” Lance called into the caves. The alert showed he was getting closer. “C’mon Keith, slow down, just come back here please,” Lance said. “We can talk about this…Keith?”

He looked down to see Keith’s chestplate and arm pieces on the ground. He collected them up, holding them awkwardly in his arms. “Keith…please stop stripping…I have a scanner on you, and you kinda need to be wearing the armor for it to work.” He swallowed, answered only by darkness, “I’m really hoping you weren’t like, eaten by a monster or something because that would make this really awkward.”

Lance heard a sound off to the right. Ignoring his training as a Paladin and basic survival sense, he blindly followed the noise. 

It paid off as he recognized a familiar purple mullet clawing at the cave walls. “Keith?” He asked.

Keith jumped, turning around. He looked…odd. Maybe it was the fact he was stripped down to his bodysuit (His leg armor bits resting on the ground, along with his belt. Maybe it was the sword shaking in his hand, pointed at the wall. Maybe it was the fact he was panting like a dog, or the sunken look in his yellow eyes. Whatever it was, he looked…odd. “Lance,” He said, his voice low and raspy, “Look, look look look.”

He pointed at the wall and finally Lance’s gaze was drawn from the haunting image of Keith to what he was pointing to. Growing out of the cave wall a small crystal. “See?” Keith said, “The planet isn’t dead at all, its growing crystals! The colonists will be able to mine way sooner than expected!”

The hair on the back of Lance’s neck pricked up. He felt like he was in some kind of horror film. “Nifty,” He said, “Why don’t you put your armor back on, huh?”

Keith stared at him blankly, eye twitching. “Nifty?” Keith repeated, “This could CHANGE the war effort. We’ll be able to power so many more ally ships. Maybe even form a real rebel army, and all you can say is ‘Nifty?”

“Really nifty,” Lance said, “But we got a couple of situations, goin’ on here in the immediate future, so why don’t you come back with me, and we’ll wait for Shiro to come pick us up, huh?”

Keith shook his head, the movement jerky, like he was running on a caffeine rush. “No, nonono, we have to collect more data, maybe there are bigger crystals further in. We have to check…”

Keith grabbed Lance’s arm and pulled him further into the cave. When Keith stopped short at another cave wall, Lance fell forward into him, accidentally pushing him against the wall. The scene from when Keith smelled him ran through Lance’s mind as he scrambled to gain his independence. 

Keith let him go, tracing his fingers along the wall, trying to find more crystals. However, from the smirk on his face, Lance was sure it was on purpose. Lance clutched his head in frustration, “Keith, please,” Lance said, “Somethings…wrong with you.”

Keith glared at him. “That’s rich coming from YOU, rival.”

Lance shook his head, “No, I don’t mean like usual, like…something happened to you. You’re acting really weird.” 

“I feel FINE.” Keith said, his words sharp. “Maybe you’re the one with the problem.”

“Keith, listen,” Lance pleaded, “Something weird is happening with the ships around here and…and normally you have at least minimal sense enough to know we need to turn back.” 

Keith spun on him, and Lance barely had time to intercept the fist rushing towards him. Lance knew right then Keith was either heavily weakened, or was simply holding back-a lot. His Galran strength meant Keith should have easily overpowered Lance, but Lance managed to keep his grip with relatively little effort. Keith tried to punch with his other hand, but Lance caught that too, dropping Keith’s armor that he had picked up earlier.

Keith panted despite not having done much athletic activity. He stepped into Lance’s personal space, Lance still holding his wrists. The position was doing something funny to his heartbeat. So was the way Keith was looking at him.

Lance pushed back and let go of the wrists. Keith seemed more frustrated by that, returning to his search of the cave walls. 

Lance sighed and touched a button to his communicator. “Lance to Coran, you there?”

“Lance!” Coran’s voice came through, “Have you found Keith?” 

“Yeah, he’s here,” Lance looked over to Keith. His eyes were focused on the walls, but Lance saw the turn of his ear and knew he was listening in, “He won’t come with me though.”

“It’s imperative that he does,” Coran said, “We believe that Vorix accidentally initiated a Betajoran mating ritual.”

“He did WHAT?” Keith’s voice came through, his attention once again turned from the wall.

“I didn’t mean to!” A voice came through the communicator that sounded like Vorix, “I…I mean, I just…I wanted to show you what it would be, just for a moment, so that you could decide for yourself.”

“BY GRABBING ME AND KISSING ME?” Keith said, rushing forward and yelling into Lance’s communicator, and hurting Lance’s eardrums in the process. “I don’t know how they do things on YOUR planet, but its considered very rude on Earth.”

“Yes, it was an ill-conceived attempt,” a third voice chimed in, this one belonging to Prince Dorias, “The most important thing is to make sure you’re alright, Keith. Different species react in a variety of ways to the telepathic bond. Your…unique physiology could be causing an extreme reaction.”

“Technically speaking,” Vorix piped up, his voice a bit quieter, “wouldn’t the easiest way to…well…finish the ritual?”

If Lance was there, he would have glared at Vorix. Hopefully Coran and Dorias were doing their best in his place, but Keith had the most extreme reaction. He stepped forward until his mouth was almost up against the radio and said in a low voice that sent a shiver up Lance’s spine, “I would rather fuck myself on a rake rather than let you anywhere NEAR me again.”

Lance couldn’t help but snort slightly at that. Keith turned his glare on him, and it was only at that moment Lance realized they were inches apart, if that. Keith’s panting was hot on Lance’s face. “Technically speaking,” Dorias’ voice came through, “You wouldn’t need Vorix to complete the ritual: anyone would do.”

Lance did not like the way Keith looked at him at that. Or maybe he liked it too much. “That…that’s not really necessary, though, right?” Lance said, “I mean, we can take him back and shove him in a healing pod or something?”

“A healing pod wouldn’t do it,” Coran said, “But if I could examine him, I COULD potentially find a cure.” 

Keith was still looking at Lance, but his eyes seemed more…hurt. “Fuck,” He said, backing away from Lance yet again, “I’ll just power through it. It’s fine.” 

“That is NOT advisable,” Coran said, “We don’t know what the effects might be, it could cause you extreme pain,”

“We have too much to do, Coran,” Keith said back, examining the walls with renewed vigor. He found a spot that might have been a crystal and started brushing away the dirt with his fingers, “There are crystals down here and we need to scan them to determine if they’re usable.”

“Wait, did you say crystals?” Coran asked.

Dorias piped up, “I thought the Galra mined this planet until it was unusable, how would there be crystals? Could they have grown back already?”

“No, I don’t think so. But if there are crystals…” Coran asked, “Why did the Galra abandon this planet?”

They all found out one minute later, as Keith drew his bayard again, and started chipping away at the walls. 

Suddenly, the cave shook, and Lance could have sworn he heard a groan of pain emanating from the walls. In less than a second, he dived forward, grabbing onto Keith and pushing him out of the way as the ceiling crumbled above them. Rocks continued to fall, and Lance grabbed Keith, pulling him forward, deeper into the cave as it collapsed around them. 

When the rumbling finally stopped, Lance was hunched over Keith, protecting his body from the rubble. He opened his eyes, which he just realized had been closed, to see Keith looking up at him, with an unreadable expression. Lance sat up, clambering off of him, and Keith once again looked disappointed. He touched his helmet, “Coran? Coran come in.” All that came out was static. “Shit, there must be too much interference.”

Slowly, Keith sat up. He was still panting, his tongue lolling out, and he pulled on his suit, trying to expose his skin to the slightly cooler air. “That was one heck of a cave in.”

“I don’t think it was one,” Lance said, “I think I’m starting to piece things together…the ships going down, the crystals, why the Galra ran…I think…I think this Balmera fought them. It caved in on them, crashed their ships, everything, that it eventually drove them away. Now that we’re here, it must think the Galra are back.”

Keith’s ear twitched, “Well, it’s not completely wrong.”

Lance smirked, “You’re not exactly the empire.” He stood up, “We can’t risk hurting the planet anymore, or it’ll crush us completely. We’ll have to explore these caves, see if we can’t find another route to the surface.”

“Those caves could go on for miles,” Keith said.

“Well if SOMEone hadn’t jabbed a sword in it, we would have been fine,” Lance said. He had meant the words to be on the same caliber of teasing insult that they usually spoke on, but somewhere in the exhaustion and several near deaths his tone had gotten mean. Keith flinched, still panting on the ground and looking…looking downright pathetic. Lance sighed, kneeling down beside him, “It’s okay. I’m gonna get us out of here, I promise. And Coran will have a way to fix this.”

Keith paused his panting to swallow spit before he continued, “I’m fine,” He said, “I’m feeling…I’ll be okay.”

Lance pinched his face in worry. “Come on, I’ll help you up.” He took Keith’s arm and pulled, doing 90% of the work himself until Keith was standing, a bit wobbly, but on his feet. He still clutched to Lance’s arm like a lifeline, though. “You sure you’re ‘okay?’”

Keith growled at him, and it was low and very much not-human. “All right…maybe I do feel a little something some…kind of instinct.” He stumbled over a rock, but Lance led him forward, “What do we do about it?”

Lance blushed, trying not to hear a proposition in his words, “We’ll get out of here. I promise you.” 

They kept going silently, Keith leaning the majority of his bodyweight onto Lance. They stuck to wider tunnels that Lance reasoned were easier to navigate should the planet decide another cave in was in order. 

As they kept walking, they came to a dead end. Keith groaned in anger and frustration, finally leaving Lance’s side to run at the wall of rocks. “Keith!” Lance tried to warn him.

Keith paid him no mind, starting to dig into the wall with his claws, “Stupid! Planet! Let! Us! Out!” 

“Keith no!” Lance pulled him back, “Do you wanna cause another landslide?” Suddenly Keith was fighting Lance, pushing on him yet again. Lance could tell he was still holding back from using his full strength.

“Let GO of me!” He cried, even though he had more of a hand on Lance by now. 

Lance grabbed him by both of his wrists again, and this time held him up to his body, trying to keep him still, He squirmed in Lance’s hold but made no real attempts to break the hold, “Keith, stop!” Lance said, firmly. “This isn’t about the planet, this is about sex,” Keith froze at the word, “But that’s not happening right now.”

Keith’s pants became shallower, as he leaned into the crook of Lance’s neck, “I think it is,” he said, mouth right up against Lance’s skin, “I think that’s exactly what’s happening right now.” He started moving again and it was a second too late before Lance realized he was actually kissing his neck. 

“No,” Lance said, grabbing Keith’s shoulders and practically lifting him off of himself, “No, I can’t. We can’t.”

“Why not?” Keith asked, and Lance hated and loved how raspy and low it sounded, “You heard Dorias, if the ritual is finished, it will end,”

Lance just kept shaking his head, “Keith, I’m your friend. Your—your judgement’s been impaired, you’re not thinking straight,”

“Well, that’s an understatement,” Keith said, “this is the gayest my thoughts have ever been.” He leaned forward again, trying to capture Lance’s mouth with his own, but Lance held him at a distance, “What are you doing, Lance? You’ve never been hard to get.”

“Well, I’m making an exception here,” Lance said, shaking his head to clear his unwanted thoughts.

Keith rolled his head back for a moment, “If I can turn down Vorix…if I have the capability to do that, what makes you think I can’t consent to you?”

Lance kept shaking his head, “Keith…while I appreciate being better than Vorix, I know there’s no way you would be doing this without the weird telepathic thing. I can’t let you do this.”

“Oh, but you want to,” Keith said, finally pushing through Lance’s admittedly weak defenses to press his body up alongside Lance’s, “What, did you think I hadn’t noticed? With your ‘practice pick-up lines,’” Keith put his hands on Lance’s waist gripping them tightly and pulling them up against himself, “the way you’d stare at me in training.” He began nuzzling Lance again, and despite himself, Lance let out a small moan, “The way you were always getting yourself assigned to the same missions as me…or how jealous you got every time I spent any time with Vorix. Admit it,” He licked a stripe on Lance’s neck, “You like me.”

Lance swallowed thickly, turning his head as far away from Keith as he could at such a short range. This unfortunately gave Keith uninhibited access to Lance’s neck, which he attacked viciously, “Alright, alright,” He said, trying to squirm his way to freedom, but Keith was holding him firm now, “I admit it. I like you. I have…wanted this for a while now.” Keith grinned in victory, “But you haven’t.”

Keith was just confused enough Lance managed to get a half inch of personal space. Keith still held his waist but they weren’t pressed up against each other anymore, which was victory enough for Lance. He pressed a hand to his neck where Keith had licked him, wondering if he had sucked long enough to leave a mark. “What do you mean?” Keith asked, his voice quiet.

“You think of me as a friend,” Lance said, “I’ve been testing the waters I know. As much as I, you know, want you to feel this way…” He swallowed again, feeling sweat from Keith’s body and the stiff air around them, “you don’t. And I…have to live with that.”

Keith shook his head looking down, almost sad, “No, Lance, I do,” He mumbled quietly, “I do like you too, really, I’m just.” He swallowed letting out a few more pants, “I’m scared. I don’t do well with emotional stuff, and you…I like you so much.” 

He looked back up into Lance’s eyes, full of hope and lust, and Lance was so caught up in it, he didn’t notice he was leaning forward until Keith was kissing his lips. And damn him if he didn’t kiss back, just a little. 

Keith latched onto his response, pushing himself further, deepening the kiss, going so far as to lick Lance’s lower lip. Lance tried to beat down the fluttering in his heart and his stomach and lower, as he took Keith’s shoulder’s once again, this time pushing him up against the opposite cave wall, never breaking the kiss. Keith moaned long and dirty as his back hit dirt.

Finally, Lance gathered his strength and pushed himself off of Keith, still holding him against the wall. He didn’t open his eyes from the bliss until he held Keith at arms length. “Please tell me that again someday when I can believe you.”

Keith’s face quickly turned from bliss to anger as he pushed Lance away, “Fine! Be that way.” He said, petting the fur on his arms to calm himself down. He looked around the tunnels, “Maybe we should check separate routes…”

Lance shook his head, “We can’t split up, we have to stick together.” 

Keith shook his head, “You don’t…you don’t understand how…how strong this is.” He clutched his arms tight to himself, “How difficult it is…to resist…”

Lance raised an eyebrow, “Are you saying I’m irresistible?” 

Keith glared at him, “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Lance smirked, “Good. Lets double back, try and find a new route.”

 

Keith kept panting as they walked down tunnel after tunnel. There was no way of telling if they were getting closer to the surface or not. Lance was becoming more and more concerned with Keith’s panting, which was getting more rapid by the second. He figured that in this form Keith couldn’t sweat through the fur, so this was his attempt at cooling down. Still, it was hard to tell between that and hyperventilating. 

Lance tried to keep to the opposite side of the tunnel, giving Keith as much space as he could. He wasn’t sure if it was helping or hurting Keith, but it was worth a shot. 

That was, until the tunnel started rumbling again. Lance leaped to Keith’s side, protecting him from the rubble again. This time the landslide didn’t seem as close to them. Still, when Lance looked up, he saw the tunnel behind them blocked off…and the tunnel ahead a dead end. “Oh no,” He said. 

He got up and paced up and down the area, looking for an escape route, but there was no way around it, they were trapped. 

Keith sat on the ground, leaning up against one of the larger rocks. Lance chomped on his lip, “We’re going to have to try and shift some of this rock,” he said.

“What…” Keith said in between desperate pants, “What happened…to not…hurting the planet?” 

“I’ll shift the rock carefully,” Lance said, reaching up and pulling pebbles from the pile in the entryway. He tried to determine which rocks would be best to try and pull free without them all crumbling on top of him. 

Behind him, Keith’s panting had turned into rasping. “L-lance?” He asked.

Lance was at his side in an instant, “What is it? Keith?”

He held Keith’s head in his hands, “I think…I’m dying…” Keith struggled to say.

Lance shook his head, “No no no, don’t do that. You’ll be fine. Besides, what kind of lame tombstone would that be, death because too thirsty.” He had hoped the joke would get Keith to laugh, or even smile, but no such luck.

“Lance…” Keith said, looking up at him before he swallowed, “Please don’t make me beg.”

Lance swallowed, considering him. “Alright…” he finally said, “alright, but if we’re gonna do this, its going to be in the most platonic way possible.” 

Keith raised an eyebrow, “Please tell me you’re not one of those guys that says ‘bro job.’” He coughed slightly, “because if so, forget the sex, just let me die.”

Lance smirked, taking off his helmet and gloves, trying to figure out how little he could get away with. “Nah, just…” He decided most of the armor bits had to go. He would still have his bodysuit, “just…why don’t you try just rutting, you know? Get it out of your system?” Keith hesitated, clearly it wasn’t all he wanted, but he nodded. 

Gently, Lance lay Keith on the cave floor, then planked over him, trying to figure out what would be best. He slotted their legs together, leaning down so their hips aligned. Keith moaned and immediately ground into the touch. Lance blushed and looked at Keith’s face. It was always so remarkable how…how Keith-like he still looked, even as a Galran. It made him smile. 

Deciding not to resist any longer, he leaned down and connected their lips. Keith responded hungrily and Lance felt sharp teeth on his lips. This was probably not in keeping with his promise of ‘most platonic way’ but quiznak he had thought about kissing Keith so much ever since their last escapade with weird Betajoran telepathy. Last time they had both been affected, though, now it was only Keith, but Lance felt he might as well have been under weird alien juju with the way he was getting lost in the kiss. 

Keith rolled them over, pressing into Lance instead. Lance blinked, but, even as he was letting go, Keith seemed to hold some level of restraint. Lance smiled, actually admiring him for that, in between the kisses and grinding and holy quiznak did Lance wish this was real. Well, it was real, sort of, but not…this was too much to think about while Keith was on top of him. He rolled them over again, nuzzling up against Keith’s strange cat-like ears. 

He froze instantly as he heard a noise, and looked up. Impatient, Keith continued trying to kiss him, but soon realized he wasn’t being reciprocated and looked to see what Lance was looking at. 

The rocks were moving. Not like, in a landslide, like just…rolling away. Lance sat up on his knees, then stood. Keith attempted to follow, but ended up laying back on the ground. “Lance? Keith?” An unmistakable accent called down the tunnels. 

“Princess!” Lance called, “Down here!” 

He took a few steps in the direction of Allura’s voice, but did not stray far from Keith. 

Three people ran into view, Allura, Dorias and Vorix. Lance glared at the sight of Vorix, but he stayed away. “Keith needs help,” Lance said. 

Allura nodded and ran to Keith’s side, Dorias behind her. Vorix gave Lance a once-over, noting the armor on the ground. Lance suddenly realized how obvious it must have been as to what they were doing.

He didn’t particularly care as Allura attempted to pick him up and he groaned, clearly upset and in pain. Lance was instantly at his head, stroking excess strands out of his eyes. Allura turned to Dorias. The prince shook his head, “He’ll never make it back to the ship.” Lance looked up at him, distressed, “We have to take care of this now.”

“I can do it,” Vorix piped up, “I’m the one who started this, I can finish it.”

Lance twirled on him, “You aren’t getting anywhere NEAR him,” Lance all but snarled, “You heard what he said earlier.”

“We just had a misunderstanding,” Vorix said, “I’m a telepath, I KNOW he was interested in me. So if you’ll excuse us—“

Lance shoved him back. He had forgotten, of course, that Betajorans were naturally a tad…stronger, than humans. Vorix hardly moved, “He said no, dickhead, on my world that translates to NO. Back. Off.”

Vorix shoved him back, and Lance stumbled backwards on the ground. Allura and Dorias got up, ready to step in between the conflict, but it was Keith, spurred on by the adrenaline, who launched himself at Vorix. “Don’t you DARE pick a fight with Lance. You want someone to fight? Fight me.”

Allura stepped forward to once again intervene, but Dorias put a hand out. “Trust me on this,” He said, quietly. Hesitant, she nodded, and helped Lance up.

Vorix shoved forward, and Keith shoved back. The two grappled with one another, their strength equal. Finally, Keith used a bit of leverage and flung Vorix into the wall. Vorix didn’t seem too damaged as he quickly picked himself up and jumped back into the fight. 

Lance watched them, ready to jump in to help Keith, but Keith hardly needed him. This was nothing like the ‘fights’ they were in earlier, full of tension. Keith wasn’t holding back anymore, fully prepared to injure Vorix. Lance really hoped it was injure, at least, and not kill. He might not like Vorix, but still. 

Instead of culminating or building action the fight slowed over time. Keith’s punches especially became more erratic, more tired. Finally, he fell on the ground. 

Lance rushed to his side, “Keith? Keith!” He said. Keith’s eyes opened a sliver. Slowly, the yellow changed to violet, and Keith’s Galra appearance melted into his human one. His breathing slowed into deep, long breaths, appreciating oxygen for what it was. Still, he didn’t seem in a rush to get up. 

Dorias came over as well and looked between Keith’s eyes. “The fever has broken. He’s safe now.”

Lance blinked at him, “It can be done by fighting? Why did you say it was only with…ya know…mating stuff.”

Dorias raised an eyebrow at him, “It’s my general policy not to set Galra warriors on a species that’s not as strong as them, especially when they’re both paladins of great importance.” He nodded to where Vorix was leaning against the wall, “Vorix, I knew, could take it. Besides, I had to think of some punishment for him for nearly ruining an alliance.”

Behind them, Allura was scooping up the pieces of Keith’s armor. “Lance, if you have Keith, I’ll finish collecting his and your armor. I’ve had a rousing discussion with this Balmera, and she shouldn’t be crashing any more of our ships. Dorias can get you both up to the castle.”

Lance nodded, and not thinking more than a moment longer, scooped Keith up in his arms.

 

The next day, the colonizers were well on their way. Lion Castle had landed, and the Betajorans were emptying out, taking their equipment with them. This meant, of course, Keith and Lance had very little to do.

Keith turned a corner and saw Lance coming from the opposite direction. He paused. Lance paused as well. He thought about turning back, but Lance was moving forward so he did too. 

They met in the middle and turned together towards the dining hall. Lance gave a respectful nod. Keith nodded back. The walked together in silence for a moment before Lance finally blurted out, “So, Coran checked you out?”

“Yeah,” Keith said, nodding awkwardly, “clean bill of health.”

“Good, good.” Lance said. They kept walking in silence. Finally, just before they reached the dining hall, Lance paused, “Wait,” he said, and Keith did, “This is ridiculous. We’re going to be in space for a long time, we can’t avoid each other forever.”

“You’re right,” Keith said, swallowing, “We should just…forget anything happened and go back to the way things were before.”

Lance froze, clearly not getting the answer he was expecting, or maybe hoping for, “Uh,” Lance said, “Sure, if that’s how you want to go about it.”

Keith swallowed, “Look, Lance, I really do appreciate what you did—what you were willing to do for me. But as far as I’m concerned it was weird alien mumbo jumbo. So. Yeah.”

Lance nodded solemnly, “Right. Okay. Well…that’s that then.” Keith nodded, “If you ever need me to do it again, though,” Lance said, “don’t hesitate to ask.”

Keith smirked, “will do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't you worry, the klance will be canon, soon. But this was a necessary step in the arc of the klance. There is one more story in the arc and then it will prob get back to one shots? I have the next 3 one shots thought out, at least, and then I'll decide where to go from there.
> 
> As always, though, if there is a particular Star Trek episode you think would make a good Voltron parody, let me know! I'm mostly doing one-shot type episodes, not the heavy serialized stuff, and like I said, the next 3 I have planned out, so it may take me a while to get to it.
> 
> And let me know what you think! my tumblr is dork-empress


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